a week with kindle

As soon as the Kindle came out my kids asked if I wanted one. I always said no, I love books. As the books became harder and harder to hold it became obvious that an ereader would be a help to my aching hands. My Kindle Paperwhite arrived last week and I have mostly good things to say about it, but a couple of disappointments as well.

First the good stuff. The device itself is unbelievably light, maybe even lighter than my phone. This makes holding it is very easy, even though I do not hold it very often. The back has a rubber feel that means when you lean it against something it stays put, no sliding over the arm of a couch or off of my leg. It's small size makes it easy to carry around, it even fits in the pocket of my rain coat. The print is clear and the front lit screen makes reading in the dark comfortable while not waking up your partner. I no longer worry that I am keeping Husband from a sound sleep when I stay awake reading. The graphics that are displayed during "sleep mode" are like little pieces of art on your table. All good.

The disappointment begins when trying to use the Kindle with library books. I knew my library carried ebooks and I assumed that meant they would have ecopies of all the current titles. I was wrong. The four library books I have right now have been published in the past 6 months, yet not a single one is available as an ebook through the library. As an Amazon Prime member I have access to the Kindle Lending Library but non of the books were available there either. Currently I am reading one or two books a week with more than half of them being library books. The end result is that to use the Kindle as my primary way of reading I am going to need to spend a lot more money on books.

Then there is the "flash". The page goes negative, with the background black and the lettering white. It does not happen as often when reading, but every time you switch pages with a graphic. I thought maybe my Kindle was broken and I was mad that I would have to send it back. After reading the instruction manual I see that the flash is normal, it is the way the eink updates itself. It took a little while to get used to, and now it does not bother me. I can understand if it bothers others.

If you do order a Kindle, I recommend reading the instruction guide that is preloaded on the device. I found it most helpful.

I am glad I made the purchase, hopeful the library issues will improve, and happy to be able to read at night while Husband sleeps. And I thought I would never use an ereader!

 

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Comments

[kate]

I'm glad you're having a mostly positive experience with it!